Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has directed the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to submit the detail data on the total amount of coal handled by the Adani Mormugao Port Terminal Private Ltd (AMPTPL) and South West Port Ltd (SWPL) from August till date.
The Board will also assess afresh the ambient air quality index in Vasco town.
The directions come in the backdrop of a media report exposing the irregularities and violations by MPT leading to coal pollution in the port town.
The Board said that it did take action against MPT, AMPTPL and SWPL for exceeding the pollution limit causing severe pollution in Vasco.
Speaking to Herald, GSPCB member secretary Levinson Martins said that the coal handling capacity of both the companies was reduced by 25 per cent by the Board due to their failure to control pollution between February-May 2016 and during same period in 2017. When “we granted them the Consent to Operate under Air and Water Pollution Act (in August), we reduced the coal handling capacity by 25 percent and issued stringent measures to reduce coal pollution,” he said.
“We will conduct fresh surveys to check the air ambient quality in Vasco. We are studying the possibility of presence of coal dust as feared by environmentalists,” Martins said adding, “If any violations are reported, we will take the necessary action.”
Martins said that the pollution body is committed to ensuring that there is no pollution in Vasco town or in any part of the State.
As per the ambient air quality monitoring data installed at various locations till July, the Parameters PM10 (particulate matter of 10 microns diametre) were found to be more or less consistently high in MPT area with the highest AAQM (air ambient quality monitoring) levels observed at Berth 5A-6A (M/s JSW) – where the MPT has proposed increase in coal handling facility and Berth 7 (AMPTPL). Following this show cause notice was served to MPT, JSW and AMPTPL. Adani handles about 5.2 million tonnes of coal annually and Jindal, 7.2 million tonnes per annum.
